


A Little More Conversation

by bar2d2s



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Movie, Sister-Sister Relationship, the guys are merely mentioned sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3415661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dawn gets in after her one night, Marianne decides that her younger sister needs a Talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little More Conversation

It was the single most awkward day of her life.

After catching her little sister sneaking in at the crack of, well. Hours after she'd returned from the Dark Forest, at any rate. Dawn had been embarrassed, but it was Marianne who'd been frozen in horror at the implications.

Her little, baby sister. Only just getting in after being out  _all night_. With her  _boyfriend_.

She felt faint, but allowed the younger girl to go to sleep. Later that morning, however, she stormed into her room, throwing back the curtains and generally making noise.

Dawn's fluffy head popped out from under her blanket, eyes blinking owlishly.

"We need to have a talk." Dawn yawned, stretching her arms and legs out before rolling onto her stomach to flex her wings.

"About why you were waiting for me in my room?"

Well, that was easy. She'd stuck her head in to say goodnight, and there was no one to say goodnight to. So she went in and waited. "No, about where you were last night." Dawn's face went pink, but she didn't look away from her sister.

"Sunny and I were stargazing, and we fell asleep." If it was a lie, it was a good one. None of Dawn's usual tells were showing at all. "We only woke up when the night was starting to fade away. He was very embarrassed, because the last time he kept me out all night, it had at least been on purpose." She giggled, rolling her shoulders. "We fell asleep on the big rock. It wasn't comfy at all."

Marianne breathed a sigh of relief. There was, of course, the chance that Dawn was lying through her teeth, but the girl had never been very good at deception. Dawn's face suddenly fell, and she sat up.

"You're not going to tell dad, are you?" Marianne plopped onto the bed next to her, wrapping an arm about her shoulders.

"Now, that'd just be hypocritical." She said with a laugh, and Dawn's smile slowly returned. "Besides, we still need to have the talk."

"What t-" Her eyes widened. "Oh no. No no no. Marianne! We really don't!" The dusting of pink had become wide blotches of red. "I mean, I'm not. We're not. Oh my goodness."

Dawn pulled the blanket back over her head, and Marianne had to lean close to hear what she was saying.

"We're not d- _doing_  anything more than kissing! We're not married!"

Marianne snorted, then began to laugh so hard, she fell off the bed. Dawn peeked out from under her blanket. "Marianne?" The older girl kicked her feet in the air, holding her aching sides. "Marianne, stop that! It's not funny!"

But it  _was_. In all her worrying, Marianne had forgotten that Sunny was an elf, and that elves had an entirely different courtship process than they did. One that emphasized non-physical affection and little presents, and how  _certain things_  were to be ignored until a pair had wed. How it wasn't unusual that he was taking so long to court Dawn. Because he was not a fairy.

Fairy courtships were whirlwind affairs. A couple could meet and be married within the same month, if the spark was there. Her own courtship with Roland had lasted over half a year, but she was a princess. Princesses were allowed to be picky, especially when it came to the person who would one day rule beside her. But even then, as young and eager to please as she'd been, she'd held out. Few were the fairy courtships that were chaste, but she'd wanted the first time to be  _special_ , to  _mean_  something.

It took her a long time to unconvince herself that her obsession with waiting hadn't been what drove him off. That she'd been nothing but a path to the crown to him. That he'd never loved her.

Dawn was out from under her blanket now, hands on her hips. "Well!  _I_  don't see anything wrong with it! We're doing just fine the way we are." Slowly, Marianne stood. 

"It's a choice the two of you agreed on, and it's not making either of you unhappy, so I'm not going to say anything else about it." Dawn's smile was radiant. "But-" It fell.

"But?" Marianne held up a hand.

" _But_ , that goes the same for you. Understand?" She could practically see the wheels turning as Dawn put the pieces together, her eyes widening.

Marianne's courtship with Bog had been charged from the beginning. Their sparring was very physical, intimate, and their difference in height left every opportunity for random shows of affection wide open. Despite his shyness and her emotional jumpiness, the speed at which it progressed didn't seem anything but natural to them.

With a little grin, Marianne pulled her high collar aside, putting the little bruises on her neck and collarbone on full display. Dawn gasped, but she didn't sound scandalized.

"Oh, Marianne! I'm so happy for you!" Sure, she was happier about the fact that her sister was letting herself be physical with someone than anything else, but whatever. A mischievous little smile passed over her face. "So, when's the wedding?" Marianne grabbed her by the leg, yanking her down to the floor so they could tussle.

"A week after yours, mashed brains!" She yelled over Dawn's giggling, tickling her into submission.

When they were both laughed out, they lay together on the floor, spread out, but holding hands. "Would you really marry Bog?" Dawn asked after a while, turning her head towards her sister. Marianne nodded, then faced her as well.

"Yes. If he asked. And you? Would you really marry Sunny?" Dawn sighed, a dreamy look crossing her features.

"In a heartbeat, even if I had to ask  _him_. Oh, imagine what dad would say." They laughed, knowing all too well what he thought of their unconventional beaus. "They're not really the men he'd want for us, huh?"

"Yeah, but dad was on board with  _Roland_ , imagine who he would have approved of for  _you_." Their faces contorted with exaggerated disgust, sending them into another laughing fit.

Eventually, they picked themselves up off the floor. Dawn surprised her sister with a tight embrace, which Marianne returned.

"Just, be careful, would you? I know the overprotective big sister act is getting old, but you're the only little sister I've got, okay?" Dawn pulled back, the sparkle in her eyes marring her expression of shock.

"Hey, my Sunny is a perfect gentleman! Maybe I should fly over to see Boggy this afternoon, let him know what'll happen if he hurts you." She punched her palm, then shook her hand. "Owie!"

Marianne shook her head, smiling. She didn't even bother to correct Dawn's syrupy sweet nickname for Bog.

As much as it scared her to admit it, Dawn was growing up. She wasn't fearless, but she was brave enough to fly into danger and threaten a king, because she loved her sister so much. Maybe...maybe it was time to let her off the leash.

"You know what? I trust you." Dawn stopped rubbing her palm, looking up in shock. "You're old enough to know what you want to do, and who you want to do it with. If you need me, I'll always come running, but I think, maybe, you don't need me as much as you did a year ago."

Dawn's eyes were watery, and she hugged Marianne again, even tighter than before.

"Thanks." She whispered, and Marianne patted her hair, sniffing back some tears of her own.

"Yeah, yeah. Now go on, start the day already. The sun's high in the sky, and you're still in your nightclothes!"

Dawn let out a little yelp, pulling away. "Oh gosh, is it really? I'm late! Thanks, sis!" Flying about her room, she grabbed a change of clothes and zipped off to the bathroom. Marianne dragged a hand down her face, sighing.

Dawn was many, many things. Excitable, forgetful, loyal, brave, silly, sweet. She was her little sister, the youngest of the king, the people's princess. There wasn't a person in the whole of the kingdom that would see her in trouble and not stop to help, even though she'd started to make it clear that she was capable of fighting her own battles. And she was almost fully grown, on the path to getting married. Marianne fell backwards onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Dawn didn't need her anymore, and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that, but one of the emotions that came through quite clearly was simply, pride.


End file.
